e-rewards: "$5" for 15 min is roughly 300 mins ("$100") for 4000 points.
IHG OCI: 50-70 points for 15-20 mins is roughly 1200 mins for 4000 points.

No joy there!
* e-rewards' IHG payout level is poor, but 1/4 that is ridiculous.
* Within e-rewards, IHG is about the worst value there is. Redeem for something more valuable and the hourly rate for OCI becomes around 1/8 the e-rewards rate.
* IHG earnings from e-rewards count as elite qualifying. OCI doesn't.

Ihg is not a good value however it helped me earn Spire status and will help me requalify ;)

I was replying to a post about IHG OCI being an alternative to e-rewards. As OCI points don't post as qualifying, your comment is utterly irrelevant, as OCI won't help anyone requalify for anything.

Yep. SSI surveys for IHG arw not elite qualifying, but erewards are.

No matter, I needed 1200 points for an IHG redemption, and then suddenly got an invite to join their survey panel. Instant 1000 points, and the other 200 were easy enough.

For SSI surveys, I prefer jetblue points. I can spend 5 minutes a day to get 100 points. Also not elite qualifying.

However leclub accor points from SSI are elite qualifying, but there is no credit for not qualifying.

Excuse me ? I was responding why I thought the IHG e-rewards redemption is a good option. Seeing this is the e-rewards page, I think it is "utterly relevant" thank you for your comment though.

I just completed my first survey, anything that posts instantly I'm a fan of

It is nice to have the option for instant points posting. The issue I ran into with the UA one (in addition to the terrible earning rate) was even though I wanted to keep it open just in case I needed a few points, after no longer doing the surveys, the only way to stop the email survey alerts was to cancel the account.

Hence, my followup post about my initial enthusiasm shrinking.

But for me, I've been locked out of e-rewards(Countless emails, country error code, profile doesn't fit, etc) for a couple years now so 5 points is still better than zero.

Was doing a 40 minute survey for a cheap $10.00 and 69% into it; i.e., 30 minutes, it dumped me saying I didn't qualify. Really want to use a nasty word right now.....but...:td:

Just logged in and checked.....yup, they gave me $0.25. Really not good today....those dogs! lol

has anyone held a large balance in their e-rewards account? basically, i just want to know if holding a large balance will prevent survey invites. or should i transfer to partners every time i get to ~$100.

I'm UK based and have around 22000 points (about $200???) sitting in my e-rewards account. I still get invites at arguably the same frequency as when my balance is low.

What is the point in holding over $100? I redeem each and every time I hit $100

If you can... sometimes there is only one redemption allowed every 90 days (Hilton).

Oh yeah. Fair enough !

I let my balance get up to around $300 at the end of last year- hit IHG Platinum and figured I might as well wait until January 1 to redeem and get a jump start on elite-qualifying in 2016 if the points were going to post as such again. Didn't seem to impact how many surveys I got.

I'm higher than that. Over $400. The real purpose for my account is to top up accounts if needed and to avoid account expirations. So I want it to last as long as possible. I usually transfer a few out when I get within 4-5 months of an expiration date to give it time to post.

I'm lucky to have one of the really old accounts with lots of airline and hotel partners.

Same here. I joined under Northwest, and when Delta later ended their participation with e-Rewards, I got all the redemption options available in the USA.

It used to be that I earned about $100 in e-Rewards "money" in about three months -- just in time to redeem every 90 days for Hilton Hhonors points. But now I have been earning at a much faster rate. So my account balance has been building up.

I don't have access to other hotel companies, since I joined through Hilton's invitation. So I plan to top off FF accounts as needed to keep miles active. But I am at a loss as to what else to redeem for. :confused:

I could get BestBuy gift cards and use those to buy ink for our home printer. But they do not seem like an optimal use. I really wish I was allowed to redeem for Hhonors points more often than just every 90 days. I wish I knew whether Hilton is the party that wanted the limit, or if it was e-Rewards.

I finally got "male, female, other". Wondered how long that would take.

Also why is asking about are you Hispanic or not always asked?

No, it won't. Basically even if you don't receive an invite, you can click on "Find survey" on the home page and get at least one survey per day.

I usually have anywhere between $100 and $300 in my E-rewards account, and it has never changed my pattern of emails for new surveys.

Is erewards not working for anyone ? seems down for me on mobile and website

Seems to be working again

I had a peak of about $250 and I don't think it affected anything. Someone once posted a copy of their home page for reasons that scape me in the fog of time (but a mistake, whatever it was), and I remember being surprised to see he had over $300. Obviously don't know what happened later with that one but he wasn't posting about not getting surveys.

FTF

$243 and still getting lots of surveys. I use for Alaska so limited to $100/month. I figure when I go on vacation I have a buffer to use so I can max out 24,000 miles per year.

Hey, I just had a look at Choice points (was going to offer a rec that sometimes a few of the hotel programs offer decent value if you're buffering too much for your airline program) and saw the 'redemption limitation' was now described a 'N/A'

Anyone try more than one redemption program there in 30 days/ a calendar month? Am wondering if it would now be possible to do a big points dump into that program in advance of a trip to Scandinavia?

And then to convince the spousal unit to drive to Orlando to grab one of those cheap Norwegian flights that pop up from there every so often...

same with IHG. no experience with multiple transfers, but i'd assume you're good to go.

It's ok, if it says N/A, there is no limitation. You can find this with hotel programs, Accor, IHG...

I've been using my extra points on Starbucks gift cards when I've maxed out on airline AA miles (once a month) and Hilton points.

My guess is that the limitations on redemptions are imposed by the partners (Hilton, AA, etc.) We'll never know what actual $$ changes hands at redemption, but my guess is that it's just not not enough that those partners are willing to offer unlimited redemptions.

I have about $147 right now. I redeem $100 a month for AA miles, amd have already redeemed in the past 30 days.

I bank the extra $$ for those times I am travelling internationally or camping without cell service, so that I can redeem for 2000 AA miles every 30 days regardless of my earnings in the previous 30 days.

Yes and stopped getting invitations a few months back - has been VERY productive for several years...I guess all good things run their course and come to an end at some point.

Yes, have held over $300 often.

Has anyone had any problems getting points redeemed to accounts when you change the confirmation address at the checkout page section?
I redeemed for etihad over a week ago, prior to that EY redemptions only took three days to credit and im getting worried now that points wont show, i changed the address in the conf page as didnt match my EY accounts address.

3 day posting time seems exceptionally generous and I would not expect that tbh

Your address does not matter. Some airline redemptions can take many weeks, Alaska, American.. Etihad probably

Thanks, its the first EY credit on my wifes account, AA normally takes 7 x days so lets hope it comes through soon!
Update: came through after 9 x days.(phew) 😆

How long does it take on average in the UK to receive a gift voucher ordered through the post?
Update: took exactly 3 x weeks to arrive!

I reedemed $120 for Hertz points a few days ago, and so far nothing, despite a popup message at the time promising the points within 30 minutes.

Just another data point: I redeemed $65 for 550 Hertz points on Monday, October 3. They were in my account three days later (October 6). :D

redeemed $120 for hertz pts and they posted in about 5days (posted 10 d ago)

Swear this was a one off but I redeemed for AS miles and they were there in just 2 days. Shocking !

what's the best redemption? down here in Australia it looks like AA is not too bad. gift cards seem to be the worst.

also - you all seem to be talking about $, whereas they use points here - seems to be 'equivalent' though -i.e. you get 25 points if you get dumped out of a study

It really depends on your travel patterns and preferred chains as well as which partners are available in your country. If you can make IB Avios work for you, 3,000 Avios for $100 or point equivalent seems a very good value. The IHG points are elite-qualifying (as are the Accor points in 2016) and are useful if you're going to be just shy of leveling up- hitting Spire with IHG triggers a bonus 25K elite gift. If you're planning a trip to Scandinavia, Choice has some useful options there at a good price in points compared to cash options. I don't know enough about the Virgins to say how well those work out.